Making a Difference with the Road Not Taken
Life is full of choices, and there is a time in every man’s experience when he must run his own life, without the help of others pointing the way. The right to make one’s own mind up shows self-reliance and gives dignity to the doer. In the famous poem, “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, we can see a perfect example of this situation through the character in the poem. There is a man who is traveling alone in a forest. The traveler comes to a fork in the road where he must choose between two paths. Since he is alone, he must rely on himself to make the right choice. This is an important step in life for every man to believe in his own thoughts and ideas and to see the decisions he makes on his own carry out in his life.
The section in the poem where the traveler comes to diverged road, as one traveler, he cannot travel both. He is sorry for this and so he stood for a long time looking one of them down as far as he could. “And be one traveler, long I stood, And looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth.” (Frost). It is imagined here that the roads before the speaker make the form of the letter “Y” which is known by some as the emblem of human life; the choice of the way of good and evil in an adult’s life. “Y” refers to dividing ways and crossroads (Cooper JC 253). However, instead of giving us two different roads, the poem presents two identical roads, stating that this is something more than just
Robert Frosts “The Road Not Taken” is more symbolic of a choice one must make in their life in attempt to foresee the outcome before reaching the end, than it is about choosing the right path in the woods.
The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the
In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand
So I decided to write an explication essay on the poem “The Road Not Taken”. The poem is by Robert Frost and it tells the story about a man who is thinking about something he had done before. Even though what he did wasn’t looked as being good or bad, it was indicated the decision he made had an outcome that caused a shift in his life.
Frost uses the debating between the two roads to show the reader the two choices that are presented to him and how those two choices offer countless amount of possibilities. There are multiple different ways to decipher the poem, but Frost connects with the reader in the sense that no matter what road is taken, another road will later replace the past road. Frost begins to notice one of the two roads looks more worn down than the other, “Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same” this is representing real-life traumas and can show the decision making process when choosing between two options. Looking down one of the roads of life before actually following the trail shows a different perspective and point of view from the basic stand point of only seeing a problem one way and never seeing the problem or decision from another point of view. Frost decides in the end to take one of the paths and says he will take the second path another day although he may never go back to the starting point of his journey. It is more than just human instinct to not want to take the more unnatural or harmful pathway; it is easier to take the cleaner path so that the problem will be over with faster and Frost depicts this problem perfectly in the form of a short poem.
Frost presents the traveler's choice of paths as a metaphor for the difficult decisions a person must make in life. The divergent paths are the choices to be made at various points along the way. Regardless of how he tries, the traveler cannot see beyond where the path is "bent in the undergrowth" (5). Likewise, nobody can predict what effect one choice will have on his life. The traveler sees the two paths as very similar or "just as fair" (6). As much as the traveler would like to return to the diverging roads, he realizes that he will not get another chance to travel the other path. With maturity comes a resignation that a choice has affected a person's life and there is no going back. He also tries to make the best of his decision by saying that it has "made all the difference." (20).
Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 at San Francisco, California and died January 29, 1963 at Boston, Massachusetts. Frost was an educator and poet. He is widely known for his poetry; some of Frost’s famous work includes The Road Not Taken, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, and Out, Out─. Out, Out─ tells a story of a young boy cutting wood to help provide for his family. He then acquires an injury on his hand by the saw. The boy ends up dying due to the severity of his wound. His family returns to their duties. This poem uses many elements to emphasize death. Robert Frost uses the poetic elements of imagery, figures of speech, and symbolism to illustrate the theme of death in the poem Out, Out─.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both." (Frost 1) - in life, there are many "paths" or choices; ways one can go in life. He explains that many people go one way, perhaps because others went that same way. "Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear" (Frost 1) In this, Frost is explaining that many people went one way while he wanted to travel the less worn one, because it might hold beautiful views – good experiences that no one else had gotten the chance to learn from. Life, he explains through this metaphor of travel, is full of choices. And going down one path may change ones life. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I- I took the one less traveled by; and it has made all the difference." (Frost 1) Robert Frost continues to teach an important life lesson to readers around the world through this extended metaphor
?The Road Not Taken? (1916) tells of someone faced with two of life?s decisions however only one can be chosen. Whichever road is taken will be final and will determine the direction that their life takes. Frost drives this poem by a calm and collective narrative, spoken by the traveler of the diverged roads. Who is speaking with himself trying to convince himself of which road is the better choice. Frost wrote this poem using standard, modern language.
Consequently, the results can be life altering. The power of choice is exemplified in Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” In this poem, Frost uses tone, imagery, and irony to assist in showing the effects of a decision.
The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost starts out with the speaker facing a dilemma. He must make a decision about which path to take. Frost utilizes metaphor and tone to develop his theme about having to make decisions in life, whether they be something as major as choosing a career to pursue or something as simple as choosing what movie to see or what to have for dinner. The speaker states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Robert Frost’s famous poem “The Road Not Taken” centers on the concept of choice. Through the use of the central symbol, the poem expresses both the uncertainty of making a choice and the expectations of the choice made between seemingly equal options. The tone of the poem shifts throughout to show the decision-making process and the regret of choosing wrongly. While the poem gently ironizes the human response to decision making, it is also filled with the anticipation of remorse.
Thesis: In the poem “A Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost shares how sometimes in life one has to make decisions rather they’re good or bad. However there are consequences following one’s decisions and choices. One can use their second chance by looking forward and choosing to take the right paths in life.
Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler facing a choice, he can either choose the road not taken, or he can choose the road most traveled by. He does not know where either road might lead, but in order to continue with his journey, he can pick only one road. He analyses both roads for the possibilities of where each may take him in his journey. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken. Frost, uses literary elements, such as Denotation and Connotation, Symbolism, alliteration, consonance, and assonance in order to convey massage.
The great poet Robert Frost was asked if the poem, The Road Not Taken, was about an experience in the poet 's life: He answered that a poem is never about an experience, it is an experience. If you succeed in determining exactly what Dylan meant in “Mr. Tambourine Man,” you will have succeeded in destroying it. This is the song that marks the change where Dylan moves on from the public world of overt political protest songs to a focus on the individual consciousness, which I’d like to argue is another more subtle form of protest. “Mr. Tambourine Man” is rich with expressions of emotion. With a new personal approach to songwriting, Dylan takes feelings that he was perhaps dealing with at the time, absorbs them, and artfully crafts them into mysterious lyrics that are simply enamoring. The song has a bright, expansive melody accompanied by Dylan’s jaunty vocals that is beautifully mesmerizing. The song is about the feeling of being trapped in a miserable existence and the desperate yearning for freedom from an individual’s own personal hell. It is about the universal need to escape one’s troubles, no matter what the means are, as long as it allows you to forget, deal, and hopefully transcend. It has become famous in particular for its surrealistic imagery, influenced by artists as diverse as French poet Arthur Rimbaud and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow. Interpretations of the